Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Tech Companies Announce ‘Girls Who Code’ Initiative

By Nick Bilton June 26, 2012 3:30 pmJune 26, 2012 3:30 pm

Julie Glassberg/The New York TimesReshma Saujani is promoting the “Girls Who Code” initiative.

It’s no secret that programmers who work at start-ups are predominantly men. This is evident on all corners of the Internet: from the naming of some products — which can sometimes “make women cringe” — to the endless stream of “top 100″ lists that are often 95 percent men.

A group of technology companies hopes to change that. On Tuesday, Twitter, General Electric, Google and eBay announced that they were joining an initiative called “Girls Who Code,” which they hope will increase the number of young women who become programmers and engineers. They want to create a mentoring and teaching program.

The Girls Who Code group was founded by Reshma Saujani, the former New York City deputy public advocate, who plans to begin the coding program in New York this summer. Ms. Saujani hopes to introduce the program to other cities in 2013.

In a press release, Ms. Saujani, a hedge fund lawyer who lost a Congressional primary race in 2010, said that although 57 percent of college graduates were women, only 14 percent of computer science and engineering degrees were awarded to women.

In a blog post on the Twitter site, the company said it would devote “time, energy and money” to work with the Girls Who Code initiative.

Sara Haider, an engineer at Twitter, said the company would begin “an eight-week intensive program to teach basic principles of computer science and coding as well as sessions on design, research and entrepreneurship.”

Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief executive, voiced the company’s commitment for the project, too. “Our support for this initiative represents our commitment to invest in, encourage and empower more women pursuing opportunities in technology,” he said.